New dirt at UMass: An update

Daily Hampshire Gazette - April 30, 2007

An era of construction forges ahead at the University of Massachusetts, with over a dozen major new building and renovation projects, totaling $710 million, now under way.

UMass is reporting that timelines for completion are on track for large-scale projects, including the Central Heating Plant, above, the Integrated Sciences Center and the Studio Arts Building. This week, construction crews will continue work on the $118 million Central Heating Plant, laying steam lines around the Horse Barn, reconstructing the Mullins Center Plaza and working at the main project site west of the Mullins Center. The 45,000-square-foot plant will replace a UMass heating plant constructed in the 1930s.

Once the new central heating plant is in operation, the old plant on Campus Center Way will be demolished. Construction of the central heating plant began in May 2006. The building is expected to satisfy nearly all of the electric and steam needs of the univeresity's 200 buildings. It will produce 10 million watts of electricity at 13.8 kilovolts for on-campus consumption, campus officials say.

The central heating plant's power systems include a conbustion gas turbine, a heat recovery steam generator, four package boilers, administrative space and auxiliary equipment.